“Primary” Election Results

Prop. 28 passed by a fairly wide margin (61-39), which means that legislators elected for the first time this fall will have twelve years total in the state legislature, divided however they see fit. People previously elected to the legislature still have to live by the old rules (6 yrs. max in the Assembly, 8 yrs. max in the Senate).

Prop. 29 narrowly lost (51-49). So no new cigarette taxes. As I noted before, I was ambivalent about this initiative, and it appears I wasn’t the only one.

Senator Dianne Feinstein cruised in her contest, winning 49% of the vote. She will face Elizabeth Emken (R), who got 12% of the vote, in the fall. The remaining 22 (!) candidates split (fairly evenly) the other 39% of the vote. Taily Orly did pretty well for a fringe candidate–she came in fifth with 3.1% of the vote.

In the local congressional race, as expected Jerry McNerney (D) will face off against Ricky Gill (R). The results highlight the challenges that Gill faces in this race as the challenger. Gill has blanketed the district with signs and media. He has been aggressive, as he has to be, in getting his name out in front of the voters. McNerney, by contrast, has done very little campaigning. Wandering around town, I would say I see 60-75 Gill signs for every one McNerney sign. I get email constantly from Gill and basically nothing from McNerney. That said, McNerney got 48% of the vote to Gill’s 39%. (In San Joaquin County, the results were much closer: 49% for McNerney and 46% for Gill. In Contra Costa County, they weren’t: 53% McNerney and 30% Gill.) Incumbents, even weak incumbents, are hard to beat.

In more local election news, my property taxes will be going up soon as a local school bond passed (59-41). The money will go to building maintenance and upgrading other student resources.

Also, incumbent Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston beat the field with 41% of the vote. Her next closest rival, Anthony Silva, received 21% of the vote. The two will face off in November since neither received a majority of votes in the initial election. The Democratic–Republican vote split in the race was 55% Democratic and 38% Republican. (I don’t know the affiliation of Stevens who received 5% of the vote.) On the basis of this information, and nothing else, I’d guess Johnston wins re-election. If the city declares bankruptcy, though, who knows?

Gill’s ads by emphasizing that he is the “local” SJ Valley candidate almost imply that he doesn’t want the Contra Costa votes. It will be interesting to see how Gill tries to garner at least some CC votes.

Yeah, I see two mistakes right now in the Gill campaign. One is writing off CCC. They are so intent on drawing the contrast between Gill the Native Son and McNerney the Pleasanton Carpetbagger that they may be overplaying their hand a little. The other is blaming McNerney for things that are so obviously out of his control (e.g., the state of the local economy). It smacks of naivete, which is something I don’t know they want to raise given Gill’s age.